Does SMS marketing really work and does it provide cost-reward benefits? You will be surprised at the answer
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Table of contents
- SMS Marketing
- Is it appropriate to market with SMS?
- How do you get the best results from SMS marketing
- Get your messages tracked
- Instant returns make planning easy
- Taking SMS a step further to MMS
- Stagger your send rate
- Your SMS is a marketing tool
- Does SMS marketing really work
- Many uses of SMS
- Be-demographic relevant
- Multi media marketing is in fashion
- Conclusion
SMS Marketing
SMS marketing has been around for many years but surprisingly it is not used nearly as much as it should be.
We all send messages every day to family, friends, and business associates that are just part of our normal activity.
In fact, so many of the young have forgotten how to talk and mostly communicate with a short message.
Therefore if it is so widely acceptable why don't more people use it?
Is it appropriate to market with SMS?
Is SMS marketing appropriate and will your customers accept it without complaining?
The answer is pretty simple really as SMS has become a common form of contact. I have them from my Doctor and Dentist reminding me of my appointment and my car service guy saying my wagon is overdue for an oil change.
I have just received one from a clothing store advising me the Winter sale is about to finish and a Real Estate agent requesting my offer on a House I looked at on the weekend. Messages are appearing all the time and I have a choice on how to handle them. It is no big drama when I have no interest because I can ignore them and a second is taken from my day.
Does SMS marketing really work and does it provide results
How do you get the best results from SMS marketing
Very few of us buy from unknown sources, we look for people we know and like and make a buying decision based on trust. Therefore random messages are not going to get a lot of attention even if the number is collected legally.
Therefore having a fixed outbound number with a company name increases your chance of success.
All bulk services use what is called a random generator for sending messages. This is a bank of mobile numbers that will generate lots of calls at a time but the number shown to the recipient could be any one of many. Thus it has no identity attachment.
There are Four choices to make
- Have a personalized number that will be your permanent source.
This will always be consistent and represent your company. Plus it can receive inbound messages at any time. Naturally all going to your computer. - Have your company name shown This is great except it can not receive return messages so it is ideal when you are directing the recipient to do something or announce an occasion.
- Use your own Mobile number (only available in certain countries) The problem
with this is replies may clog up your mobile. - Use the random number generator. The most used method but has some restraints
1 and 2 have a small cost but will increase open rates enormously.
Get your messages tracked
Get the most out of your SMS campaigns with a built-in link tracking feature. Track who clicked your links and your click-through rate. This is great for your stats and even promoting a follow-up list.
Instant returns make planning easy
Recipients don't mess around with SMS they either respond or delete them. So It is not like an email that may be parked for later viewing.
This allows easy test marketing to a small batch of customers. Send a message and wait for the phone to ring. If it doesn't then make some changes and test again. You don't want to send a couple of thousand messages and get no returns.
The idea is to spend some money to get a far greater return on your investment. Then rinse and repeat
Taking SMS a step further to MMS
A greater cost but a bigger bang for your bucks as you send images, links, and stories all on the same service.
Stagger your send rate
If you send a volume of messages and your switchboard lights up like a Christmas tree you have a service problem. Getting leads is one thing but responding to them and closing deals is another. Break your base into manageable chunks and stagger the numbers to go out at different intervals thus making call handling a lot easier.
Does SMS marketing really work and is it a marketing tool
Your SMS is a marketing tool
With a message, you only have 160 characters to play with so you need to be precise in what you have to say. This is particularly so when you put an opt-out at the bottom. Of course, you can roll over to a second or third message but that is all at extra cost.
Tell them what you want and what they should do and make it exciting enough to solicit a response.
Never leave your customers in doubt, be specific and clear in your intent demanding action of some kind.
Does SMS marketing really work
The short message market is growing rapidly as more and more businesses take up the opportunity to be first at the customer.
Most media takes a lot of time and effort and gets poor results whilst segregating your audience and typing a hundred characters is never a chore. Plus the results are instant.
Try a campaign and see for yourself just how good the results are. The odds are on your side.
Many uses of SMS
Short messages are not only for direct sales they may be for reminders, appointments , invitations. alerts, warnings or any number of situations.
[Business] Flash Sale: Get 30% off all services for the next 2 hours. Use code: [PromoCode] at: [Website]
[Business] – Our annual sale starts [Date]! Be one of the first 20 to reply back with [Keyword] to get early access.
Happy anniversary! It’s been a year since you joined [Business], and we’re saying thanks by treating you to [Incentive]!
Hey [FirstName], [Season]’s on the way and you’re invited to the [Business] launch party. Reply back: [Keyword] to RSVP.
Be-demographic relevant
Teenagers will act differently to Seniors and even men to women. What will turn one location into a hunting ground will spoil another because the needs are different.
Text messages have a 98% open rate while email averages at 20%
(Campaign Monitor)
Many of your customers will fall under the banner attention deficit. They want quick fixes and instant action and SMS caters to this perfectly.
More than 50% of consumers would prefer to text a customer support assistant rather than receive a phone call from them
(Finances Online)
The reverse is also true that people would prefer a text from customer service rather than a phone call.
Text has been around for a long time and yet many are still unwilling to take a small risk to find a big return.
Multi media marketing is in fashion
You need to target your market with up to five different marketing methods to make sure the message is really sinking in. This is proven by all the top marketing agencies and businesses and can be seen working all the time. Think about the large companies that you buy from and the approaches you get to stay loyal to their brand.
Blogging, newsletters, Social media, emails, letterbox drops, telephone calls and of course SMS
We are in a war of brands so make yours stand out and retain those hard earned customers by constant association
Conclusion
Love it or hate it SMS is the way of the future. It is the fastest and most accurate media available with returns that can exceed all expectations.
SMS is the media of the moment therefore the time to take advantage is now
I supply and suport SMS services as a business.
SMS marketing
